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Thursday, January 15, 2015

Annexation into Atlanta: what would that mean?

The MANA Working group has done a lot of research on our neighborhood's annexation options. Our survey did not point to Atlanta as preferred annexation goal, but much has happened since we conducted that survey: City of Decatur rejected the notion of including Medlock Park in its annexation map, and a new La Vista Hills city has been mapped but its fate in the coming legislative session is uncertain (if approved, the proposal would still go to a popular vote). Although a number of nearby communities are clamoring to remain unincorporated, many individuals believe that sooner rather than later, north DeKalb neighborhoods all will be incorporated into new or existing cities. If we accept the idea that incorporation is inevitable, it is important to educate ourselves on the impact of joining a new city [such as those being considered in the current legislative session] or joining City of Atlanta.

Comparison shopping: It has been, and continues to be, impossible to create a comparison chart for proposed new cities: they do not have charters in place because they don't exist yet. We can, however, establish a comparison between being in unincorporated DeKalb County and being in City of Atlanta. The MANA Working group has created an extensive comparison table. Rep. Rahn Mayo published an abridged version of this table in a recent newsletter that was distributed to his Medlock constituents recently.

We are working on a new survey to ascertain the wishes of as many residents as possible and planning a MANA community meeting for January (details coming soon) timed to take place before the survey's closing date.